That cake should technically be the same tea, although I haven't had it before to tell you for certain. The FT Baoyan that I have had from XG tends to taste similarly, regardless of shape, although I'm sure if you did some side-by-side comparisons, you'd probably note some differences.

In any case, there are LOTS of sources of baoyan mushrooms, it depends on what year you want at what price.

Do you mean in terms of storage space, that they are more convenient? Or is there another factor? I rarely buy anything but bings and bricks, so i wasn't sure what your comment meant

Buying bricks does save space but I was speaking more in terms of aging. Bricks are thinner than Tuocha and, as a result are better suited for humidity and oxygen to permeate the compression. When it comes to XG, you need every advantage that will facilitate aging

quikstep wrote:I know FT version is higher quality but does it also contain "twigs" for flavoring?

very interesting flavor.

Not for flavor, just because they produce it by the ton and the twigs got tossed in the mix. Xiaguan is not the prettiest of teas. You will find the occasional twig or stray junk in some of their tea, FT or otherwise

One of the biggest problems with Xiaguan tuochas and some of their bings is the smokiness. Sometimes I think they do this intentionally because it is so common. Smokiness also hides a tea's character by overwhelming it's flavor. I think most of us drink tea for the taste of it and the way a puerh will age and change its flavor over time. That smokiness doesn't go away very easily. It often puts me off of a tea and I will never buy a smoky tea again. Smoothness is not a critical factor for me if a tea is smoky and many of the Xiaguan FT teas are rather smooth like the 2008 Tibetan Flame. But, if I can't taste the flavor of the tea, my interest is gone.

Tead Off wrote:One of the biggest problems with Xiaguan tuochas and some of their bings is the smokiness. Sometimes I think they do this intentionally because it is so common. Smokiness also hides a tea's character by overwhelming it's flavor. I think most of us drink tea for the taste of it and the way a puerh will age and change its flavor over time. That smokiness doesn't go away very easily. It often puts me off of a tea and I will never buy a smoky tea again. Smoothness is not a critical factor for me if a tea is smoky and many of the Xiaguan FT teas are rather smooth like the 2008 Tibetan Flame. But, if I can't taste the flavor of the tea, my interest is gone.

Generally speaking, FT materials are slightly better than the non-FT same product (this applies to Jia tuo and mushrooms). The difference is bigger in some years (not announced by xiaguan but totally depending on drinkers' rumors). Baoyan bricks are made of the debris and left-overs of various things and have lower grade leaves than mushrooms (which has low grade leaves to begin with). But the face material is quite presentable (as showed here: http://gingkobay.blogspot.com/2010/01/2006-xia-guan-bao-yan-brick-sheng-in.html). Some say you could buy bricks and cut the face side off to get the best value of your money

In some years FT mushrooms (and its series) are less smokey than regular mushrooms and therefore disliked by traditional-flavor lovers (and probably favored by other people). Otherwise many people would prefer to FT version.

I've found all these lower grades aging faster than many products made of higher grade leaves.

Overall traditional xiaguan style is totally a different genre from the big tree tea products. But some guys tried to use the style on big tree teas. Quite a few 2006-2008 period teas made by some famous Taiwan producers are of the "fusion" style.

because i liked it so much, i went and look for an older baoyan mushroom tuo. the seller took it out from some bamboo wrapping. the previous one is a 2007 tuo that lived in a paper bag.

comparing the 2, (the older one is at least 10 yrs old according to the seller), the sourish taste in the 2007 version is missing. the bonus is missing twigs and tea fannings. it does look like this is much better quality. are they the same actually? those in bamboo wrapping (7-in-1) and those in paper bag wrapping (3-in-1)?

Tead Off wrote:One of the biggest problems with Xiaguan tuochas and some of their bings is the smokiness. Sometimes I think they do this intentionally because it is so common. Smokiness also hides a tea's character by overwhelming it's flavor.

I think for some teas they do it intentionally now, historically it was due to humid conditions and needing to dry tea. The smoke is usually gone after a few years in my experience. You can not taste it on some of the teas with more age.

Tead Off wrote:One of the biggest problems with Xiaguan tuochas and some of their bings is the smokiness. Sometimes I think they do this intentionally because it is so common. Smokiness also hides a tea's character by overwhelming it's flavor.

I think for some teas they do it intentionally now, historically it was due to humid conditions and needing to dry tea. The smoke is usually gone after a few years in my experience. You can not taste it on some of the teas with more age.

Tead Off wrote:I've had some 2003 teas that still retain a lot of smoke.

That's interesting? It must depend on either the storage or the tea. I have been drinking a 2004 XG Iron Cake pretty regularly that doesn't have smoke left on it. I have one "2003" iron cake that has smoke on it, but it is a fake of the Teji red wrapper cake. My tuos older than 2008 are smoke free. Some of the recent ones are still smokey.